Shirt-collar stretcher



- Aug. 18, 1925.

B. LIE BOWITZ SHIRT COLLAR STRETCHER Filed. Get, 15.

INVENTOR Ben amin Z z'qaw/i ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 18, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN LIEBOWITZ, OF PENNSIIDE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO S. LIEBOVITZ 6'6 SONS, INC., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SHIRT-COLLAR STRETCHER.

Application filed October 13, 1924. Serial No. 743,324.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN LIEBOWITZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at the village of Pennside, county of Berks, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Shirt-Collar Stretchers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for use in laundering shirts having attached collars.

The objects of the invention are to provide a simple and inexpensive device for stretching the shirt-collar and holding it in proper position for ironing.

By means of my device laundering of collar attached shirts is facilitated because the use of the stretcher leaves both hands of the operator free for use in ironing and handling the shirt.

One embodiment of the device is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l, is a plan View of a shirt laid out in position to be ironed with the stretcher inserted in the collar;

Figure 2, is a plan view of the stretcher on a larger scale;

Figure 3, is a detail view of one of the stretcher jaws, in its operative position, bearing against the neck-band of the collar, and,

Figure 4, is a sectional view of the jaw taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

teferring to the drawings, 11 indicate a pair of legs which are pivotally connected together at or near their upper ends and are normally held spread apart by a conventional spring device 2.

A jaw 3 is secured to the lower end of each leg. The jaw is formed with teeth 4 on its face, and a slot- 5 in its rear. The teeth 4 are preferably rounded at their ends, as seen. in Figure 4, to permit the shirt collar to slide on the teeth without tearing.

The lower end of the leg fits loosely into the slot of the jaw, and the parts are pivotally fastened by a rivet 6 that passes through the jaw at a point not above its center, preferably below the center. As the pivot point of the jaw is at or below its center, the jaws will firmly hold the shirt-collar when inserted therein as shown in Figures 1 and 3, and cannot be removed until the legs of the stretcher are closed. A pin or stop 7 is provided to limit the forward turning motion of the jaw around its pivot and to arrest the jaw in proper position for insertion into the collar, which position is shown in Figure 2.

As the spread of the legs may be greater than can be conveniently spanned by the operators hand, I provide one of the legs with a pivoted hook 8 into which the thumb may be inserted to close the legs.

In use, the stretcher is inserted into the shirt-collar, as shown in Figure 1, and the ring 9 at the top of the stretcher is then hooked on a nail or other fixed support on the ironing-table (not shown). The shirt is now laid out flat on the table and stretched. A weight or clamp (not shown) may be applied to the tail of the shirt to maintain the shirt in stretched condition while being ironed.

It is to be understood that modifications in the details of the construction herein described may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

lVhat I claim is:

1. A shirt-collar stretcher including a pair of legs movable toward and away from each other, each carrying a jaw which is pivotally fastened to an extremity of the leg at a point not above the center of the jaw.

2. A shirt-collar stretcher including a pair of legs movable toward and away from each other, a pair of jaws each provided with teeth on its face and a slot in its rear, an extremity of each leg fitting into the slot in one of the jaws respectively and being pivoted thereto at a point not above the center of the jaw.

3. A shirt-collar stretcher comprising a pair of legs pivotally connected together at their upper extremities, a spring pressing against the legs to hold them in distended position, a toothed jaw pivoted to the lower extremity of each leg at a point not above the center of the jaw, and a stop on the jaw for limiting its turning motion about the pivot.

BENJAMIN LIEBOWITZ. 

